Science Fiction and Empire

From its beginnings, science fiction has experimented with imperialistic scenarios of alien invasion, extraterrestrial exploitation, xenophobia, and colonial conquest. In Science Fiction and Empire, Patricia Kerslake brings contemporary thinking about postcolonialism and imperialism to bear on a variety of classic sci-fi novels and films, including The War of the Worlds, Stanislaw Lem’s Solaris,and Star Wars. The first book to identify the consequences of empire in science fiction, Kerslake’s study is a compelling investigation of the political ramifications of how we imagine our future.